Airship



Dec. 7,192

E. SCHOETTEL AIRSHIP Filed July 17. 192

ATTORNEY container,

' spects, for example,

positioning gas contamers gas or to replenish Patented Dec. 7, 1926.

- UNITED STATES.

PATENT: OFFICE.

' EUGEN scnonm-EL, or AKRON, 01110, Assxeuon 'ro eoobYEAu-znnnnm consona- TION, OF AKRON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Antenn Application filed July 17, 1925. serial No. 44,238.

My invention relates to air ships and it has structed that the non-inflammable gas forms a protecting wall about the inflammable gas explosion of theinflammable gas to a mimmum.

Another object of'my invention is to provide an airship in which non-inflammable gas is .,utilized. as the principal lifting medium and in which inflammable explosive fuel gas is utilized as-a supplemental lifting medium, the gases being so confined and distributed that the airshipmay be maneuvered without loss of anyof th'e non-inflammable as. 1 Airships have heretofore been constructed wherein gas containers, have been inflatedv with non-inflammable gas. Other containers inflated with inflammable maneu- "vering gas havebeen disposed wholly within the first named containers and surrounded by the non-inflanimable'gas. However, these structures and arrangements previously employed are disadvantageous in many re difficulties invariably arise in properly I for relatlvely l ght inflammable maneuvering gas within the-non-inflammable gas containers. In order to valve the inflammable the supply thereof, a gas conduit must pass outer gas container. This is objectionable because the securing means is likely to injure the gas bags duringinflation or deflation thereof. There is also difliculty' encountered in manipulating the valves of such inclosed inflatable gas containers. Inthe event-that thecontainers are pierced or in case the inthereby reducing the danger of tainers constructed through the wall of the Thus, it is.

in impairing the safety of the airship. Also,

by having one container completely'disposed wlthln anothenit is difiicultt-o detect a leak.

in the inner container and thus danger of explosion may be prolonged and the existence of such dangerwill likely be unknown until the actual explosion occurs.

By my inventionjI have avoided all of the disadvantagesjabove enumerated and yet'l have retained the advantages of utilizing a principal lifting gas, which is noninflammable, and an inflammable maneuvering gas. An airship embodyingmy invention consists generally of an envelope inclosing aplural ity of" substantially cylindrical gas containe'rs' conforming to the contour of the envelope and positioned in abutting relation to each other. These containers are inflated with a non-inflammable lifting gas such ashelium. Separate relatively smaller gas containers inflated with inflammable lifting 'gas'are positioned between the several lar e'r containers and are inclosed thereby. as conduits lead from the small containers, to the atmosphere and .in' case fuel gasis employed, a, conduit is provided which communicates with a power motor.

For a better understanding 'of'my inven 'tifon, reference may now be had to the acspecification, of which:

Fig.1 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross- .sectional view of an airship illustrating diagrammatically an arrangement of gas conin accordance with my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view illustrating the relative-positions of the different forms of gas containers employed in my invention, the view-being'taken su'bstautially along the line II'II of- Fig. 1.

In practising my invention I have provided a number of substantially cylindrical fabric gas containers 10 adapted to be inflated with non-inflammable gas such as helium and which are adapted to. be disposedv within'an airship envelope or hull generally indicated by the numeral 11. It is to be understood that the containers 10 are not necessarily cylindrical in form but they may assume any commonly known shape of gas containers employed in lighter-than-aircraft. Eachof the containers 10 is comcompanying drawings fora'ning a part of this ppletelyinclos'ed ty a netting 12 whic'hextends between the abutting ends of the con-- i tainers and is secured in any suitable manmental gas containers 13 which aredeflated right-hand side of Fig. 1 I have shown the or inflated for the the airship.

I These supplemental gas bags-or containers I 13 are of relatively smaller size and they are positioned between and enveloped by the adacent ends of the larger containers 10. The netting 12 serves the purpose of inclosing thegas containers 13 and limits the expansion thereof. The netting also serves the purpose of properly positioningv the gas containers 13 with respect to the compartments- 10 and to the airship hull or envelope. The containers 13 are adapted to be inflated with relatively inexpensive inflatable lifting gas or with'fuel. gas. In case fuel gas is employed a conduit 14 is provided which communicates with a motor (not shown). I The conduit 14 may also be used forinflating the cell 13, or,if desired, an additional conduit may be provided for that purpose. At the purpose of maneuvering inner bag 13 substantially deflated.

. At the bottom of each of the containersl3, a gas valve 15, of standard construction, is provided which communicates with a con duit 16 leading from the container throughthetop of the airship tothe free air. The liftin power 'of the airship may be varied bywalvmg the combustible gas by means of the valve 15 without loss of any of the helium or likegas with which the containers 10 are inflated. a

Ordinarily the containers 13 will be filled with a fuel gas, such as methane, more com- 'monl-y known as coal gas, which, although it has considerable lifting power, is nevertheless heavier than helium. By reason of the fact that the containers13 and- -10 are separately constructed, any gas which escapes from the container 13 becomes lodged be tween the wall of the pontainer 13 and the adjacent-wall of the. container 10. As the helium. is lighter in weight than the methane, the methane is forced downwardly thereby, between the walls of the container 13 and the cell 10 until it reaches the lowermost point of the container '13, and there passes into the" conduit 16 which also communicates with the'-valve15,1 Thus anygas which escapes. fromJ'the-gascell 13 is discharged into the air rather than being'permitted to form a pocket'of-explosive gas between the cells 13 "and 10. I .l

a gAs'ind"iiitteil above, the gas in the. contamers may be usedfonly for -navigation LEXurposes. or: it may be utilized a motor "In the latter case, liquid-fuelsuch-as tainers ininclosing relationship.

the increased lift caused by consumption of gasoline will be avoided. Consequently, the amount of water necessary to recover by the ballast Water recovery method is reduced to a minimum .or dispensed with altogether.

Although I have illustrated but one form which my invention may assume and have described in detail'but a single application thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but that various minor modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

WhatI claim is: c

1. An airship comprising a plurality of gas containers arranged in series, the adjacent gas containers engaging each other, and a plurality of smaller gas bags engaging adjacent gas containers, said smaller bags being disposed between and surrounded by the adjacent g'as' containers.

' .2. An airship comprising a plurality of lifting gas containers, fuel gas containers disposed centrally of theairship and means for supporting fuel gascontainers intermeidiate thelifting gas containers, the lifting gas containers engaging the fuel gas con- 3. An airship comprising a pluralit containers adapted to receive non-in ammable lifting gas therein, a plurality of containers adapted to receive inflammable fuel gas, the latter containers, being surrounded and engaged by thefirst named containers, and a netting enveloping each of the containers.

4'. An airship -comprising a plurality of I fluid containers arranged in abutting relationship to each other, a relatively smaller-- "fuel gas container positioned between and surrounded by the abutting portions of the fluid containers, and a motor su-iplply conduit extending outwardly from the el tainer between the fluid containers.

5. fluid containersarranged in' abuttingrelationship to each other, relativelysmaller: 7 fuel gas containers positioned between and surrounded by the abutting portions of thei gas con-f .nog

An airship comprising'a plurality of] fluid containers, -a -motor supply conduit coniiectedtoeach fuel gas container, 'and means for permitting the .gas in the fuel gas containers to escape to the atmosphere; V

-6..An 'airshi cqmprising a plurality of separatefflexilil gas containers disposed in.

abutting} ;engagement, and an independent flexible gas cell disposed intermediate two of said containers and completely envelopedthereby.

separate flexfible gas containersfdisposed in abutting engagement, an independent flexi- 7 ;fAn airship comprising a plurality 7 of" v ble gas cell disposed intermediate said con-.

8. An airship comprising a plurality of separate flexible gas containers disposedin abutting engagement, an independent flexible gas celldisposed intermediate said con-' tainers and completely 'eni eloped. thereby, 1

means fonpermitting the escapementof gas from said int'ermediately disposed 'cell' into the atmosphere, and means for causing the escape intothe atmosphere of any gas which leaks from said intermediate ce1l.. In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

EUGEN SCHOETTEL. 

